Wall Street is finally seeing green. All three major indexes (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) are higher across the board, as investors shift their attention to Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress on the strength of the economy and the future of interest rate hikes.
In prepared remarks, Yellen kept the possibility of gradual interest rates hikes on the table, but was more cautious about the outlook of the U.S. economy.
"Financial conditions in the United States have recently become less supportive of growth, with declines in broad measures of equity prices, higher borrowing rates for riskier borrowers, and a further appreciation of the dollar, “ Yellen said.
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Twitter (TWTR) unveiled some bold steps in moving away from its traditional timeline format. Users now have the option to turn on a new tool that allows them to see the most recent tweets first via an algorithmically-generated timeline. The change will make it more appealing for advertisers because ads can be targeted to tweets that promote products. The company said the new feature is available for all users on iOS, Android, and the Web. This announcement comes before the release of Twitter's quarterly results after the close, which will be closely monitored following a steep decline in the company's stock price over the past year. The social media service has had a tough time reigniting user growth. Analysts are looking for Twitter to report earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of about $710 million.
Disney (DIS) delivered record profits and revenue that also topped expectations for its fiscal first quarter thanks to the phenomenal success of the latest installment of "Star Wars." However, investors remain concerned about subscriber growth for its ESPN sports network and other cable channels as more people opt to cut the cord.
Time Warner (TWX), the owner of CNN and the Cartoon Network, posted earnings per share that beat analysts' estimates as it cut expenses and its HBO division continued to shine. But revenue fell short of forecasts as a lack of blockbuster movies from Warner Bros. studios weighed on sales.
Deutsche Bank's (DB) U.S.-listed shares were sharply higher in early trading after the Financial Times reported that Germany's largest lender is weighing a multi-billion dollar bond buyback. A big bond buyback would help boost the share price, which has plunged since the beginning of the year. This comes after CEO John Cryan said Tuesday the bank was "rock solid."
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SolarCity (SCTY), which is backed by Tesla (TSLA) founder Elon Musk, saw its stock take a hit this morning. The largest installer of solar panels in the U.S. said it expects a bigger-than-expected loss for the current quarter, as installations fell short of targets. This comes as the company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue in the fourth quarter.
Tesla Model 3 price tag
How would you like to own a Tesla for the price of the average sedan? The newest model from the electric carmaker is to be priced at $35,000, and with government incentives the actual cost in some states could be as low as $25,000 for the Model 3.
Google driverless car gets legal nod
The National Transportation Safety Board now says the artificial intelligence running driverless vehicles is considered a "driver." The ruling means Google (GOOGL) and others developing such cars will have better access to testing them on roads humans currently drive on.
What is Wall Street exactly?
There were huge wins yesterday in the New Hampshire primary for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, who handily beat their rivals in the Republican and Democratic contests, respectively. Sanders is riding the wave of anti-Wall Street sentiment with his populist theme of breaking up banks and taxing the wealthy. Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman explains to Alexis Christoforous in the video above “What is Wall Street exactly.”
